Saturday, 6 July 2013

A last few places from St Augustine

St
Augustine is also home to the Villa Zorayda which is an exact scale replica of the
Alhambra in Granada, not of the whole place, just one wing.

Built
for a Boston millionaire in 1883, it was then owned by Alfred S Mussallem who
was an authority on Egyptian antiquities.It’s an interesting place and at one point was a nightclub and casino,
well until Florida banned gambling that is.

Inside
is like stepping into a Moorish palace, ornately carved tables, lanterns, a
sultans couch, Moorish style tracery, marquetry tables, a very comfortable
looking harem swing (needless to say you couldn't actually try it out), an ancient carpet, complete with curse, even a roulette
wheel from the buildings time as a casino.Photographs aren’t allowed inside, but it’s an interesting place to
visit.

We,
well I should say I, as by this time DB was all visited out, also visited the
Gonzalez-Alvarez House, which is the oldest house in St Augustine.

Originally
a one room building, the building was expanded and changed over the years, at
one time the paymaster for the Dragoons owned the house and turned part of it
into a bar, after he’d paid the soldiers they all trooped across to his bar and
spent their money, a pretty nifty way to get a second income.

After that we meandered back through the narrow streets of the old town

as
we did we came across a real blast from the past on the doors of a shop
undergoing refurbishment.

Historic
St Augustine is a lovely place and we enjoyed the fact the unlike most American
towns you can actually walk around instead of having to drive everywhere. Yet another place to added to our ‘to
re-visit list’.